J.K. Rowling starts selling Harry Potter e-books

Author J.K. Rowling announced she will be selling Harry Potter e-books through her own online platform, Pottermore, retaining all electronic rights to Harry Potter. It is estimated that Rowling will make more than $160 million off of e-book sales through Pottermore.

Credit:

Christopher Furlong

The electronic versions of Harry Potter books went on sale Tuesday at Pottermore, J.K. Rowling's new web store.

In a move that breaks with current practices and could transform the eBook industry, the books are not locked down by encryption, which means consumers can move them between devices and read them anywhere they like, the Associated Press reported.

If "Pottermore," takes off, it could be a new way for authors and publishers and get around the almighty lock Amazon.com has had on the e-book market, AP said.

"You can only purchase the books from the Pottermore site, this is really unusual," wrote Joshua Gans on Forbes.com. "On Amazon’s page they actually push you there. There is no other Kindle book sold in this way. It is a big deal."

Big deal indeed for both Potter fans, who can now get their favorite books in digital format, and Rowling who will now see enormous profits from her book, in a way no author has previously in the digital age.

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